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SoftLayer at SXSW 2014

When attending South by Southwest (SXSW), the streets of Austin can feel like a giant maze. Keeping up with all the events in and around the conference is exhausting (if not impossible), so we thought we'd create a simple "SoftLayer at SXSW 2014" cheat sheet to eliminate the twists, turns and Internet searches that you'd otherwise make to track us down.

SXSW Interactive (SXSWi) Tradeshow

You will find the SoftLayer team in the Austin Convention Center Exhibit Hall at Stands 404 and 406. SLayers will be on-hand to give you a guided tour of the SoftLayer customer portal and answer any questions you have about moving your business into the cloud in general or moving it onto SoftLayer, specifically. If you have trouble locating our booth, we've got an 8-bit-inspired milestone for you to look for: The Server Challenge II.

We launched the original Server Challenge at SXSW in 2011, and since then, we've been tweaking and improving the competition to engage with conference attendees and help us tell the SoftLayer story. The objective of the competition is to popular 24 drive trays into two 2U servers and plug the network cables into the correct switches in the fastest time possible. If at the end of the show you have the fastest time, you will walk away with a MacBook Air and major bragging rights. As a reward for reading the SoftLayer Blog, we'll give you a leg up on the competition by letting you watch the current 43-second Server Challenge II world record completion:

SoftLayer Speakeasy

If you're looking to chill, recharge or get work done in the midst of the SXSW craziness, sign up to join us at the SoftLayer Speakeasy, featuring the Catalyst Startup Lounge. Our Catalyst team is taking over a great 6th Street venue on Sunday and Monday to provide a relaxed co-working space for customers, partners, and startups. Entrepreneurs, investors, developers and individuals in the startup ecosystem are welcome to stop in for free WiFi, coffee and drinks all day, and after 7pm, you'll enjoy live music!

Register Now
Location: 501 East 6th Street, on the 2nd floor
Dates/Times: Sunday, March 9 at 12:00 PM to Monday, March 10 at 10:00 PM

SoftLayer Catalyst Incubator Program - SXSWi Panel

SoftLayer VP of Community Development Joshua Krammes joins a panel of customers and partners on Monday for a look at the tangible resources startup companies need to succeed:

IBM Cognitive Food Truck

While you're in town for SXSW, you're going to get hungry. Luckily, the Austin food truck scene is amazing, and you have quick and convenient access to any kind of food you can think of. This year, you'll even have quick and convenient access to any kind of food that IBM Watson can think up! Stop by the corner of Red River and 4th Street for a creative, crowd-sourced treat from the IBM Cognitive Food Truck. By using algorithms to determine why people like certain foods, Watson comes up with unique combinations of ingredients that deliver unbelievable results. And the best part...

Vote for the dishes you want to see the IBM Cognitive Food Truck create at SXSW online or by Tweeting your desired dish using #IBMFoodTruck. And if you get to try any of the food, let us know what you think about it.

With this cheat sheet, finding SoftLayer at SXSW will be a breeze ... Navigating the streets of Austin in the midst of all the crowds and chaos still might be tricky, though.